3. Examine the top left photo carefully. What health risks might affect the people you see? What do you
1.6 WHERE DO OUR IDEAS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT COME FROM?
• Utilitarian conservation focuses on usable resources.
• Preservation of nature recognizes the rights of other species.
• Modern environmentalism focuses on health and social justice.
Historically, many societies have degraded the resources on which they depended, while others have lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Today our burgeoning population and our tech- nologies that accelerate resource exploitation have given the prob- lems of environmental degradation increased urgency.
Many of our current responses to these changes are rooted in the writings of relatively recent environmental thinkers. For how a source influences statements or ideas. But you can also distin-
guish among different kinds of critical thinking: Analytical thinking involves breaking down a problem into its constituent parts. Creative thinking means envisioning new, different approaches to a problem.
Logical thinking examines the structure of an argument, from prem- ises to conclusions. Reflective thinking means asking, “What does it all mean?”
These processes are often self-reflective and self-correcting.
They encourage you to ask, “How do I know that what I just said is true?” Developing habits of critical thinking can help you identify unspoken assumptions, biases, beliefs, priorities, or motives (table 1.4 and fig. 1.17). These habits will also help you do well in class, and they can help you be an informed, thoughtful reader of the world around you.
TABLE 1.4 Steps in Critical Thinking
1. What is the purpose of my thinking?
2. What precise question am I trying to answer?
3. Within what point of view am I thinking?
4. What information am I using?
5. How am I interpreting that information?
6. What concepts or ideas are central to my thinking?
7. What conclusions am I aiming toward?
8. What am I taking for granted; what assumptions am I making?
9. If I accept the conclusions, what are the implications?
10. What would the consequences be if I put my thoughts into action?
Source: Paul, R. (1993). Critical Thinking. Foundation for Critical Thinking.
FIGURE 1.17 Critical thinking evaluates premises, contradictions, and assumptions. Is this sign, in the middle of a popular beach near Chicago, the only way to reduce human exposure to bacteria? What other strategies might there be? Why was this one chosen? Who might be affected?
©Mary Ann Cunningham
American frontier in his lifetime, he warned of its ecological conse- quences. Largely because of his book, national forest reserves were established in the United States in 1873 to protect dwindling timber supplies and endangered watersheds.
Among those influenced by Marsh’s warnings were U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief conservation adviser, Gifford Pinchot (fig. 1.18a,b). In 1905 Roosevelt, who was the leader of the populist Progressive movement, moved forest management out of the corruption-filled Interior Department into the Department of Agriculture. Pinchot, who was the first American-born professional forester, became the first chief of the new Forest Service. He put re- source management on an honest, rational, and scientific basis for the first time in American history. Together with naturalists and activists such as John Muir, Roosevelt and Pinchot established the framework of the national forest, park, and wildlife refuge system.
They passed game protection laws and tried to stop some of the most flagrant abuses of the public domain. In 1908 Pinchot orga- nized and chaired the White House Conference on Natural Re- sources, perhaps the most prestigious and influential environmental meeting ever held in the United States. Pinchot also was governor of Pennsylvania and founding head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provided inexpensive power to the southeastern United States.
The basis of Roosevelt’s and Pinchot’s policies was pragmatic utilitarian conservation. They argued that the forests should be simplicity, their work can be grouped into four distinct stages:
(1) resource conservation for optimal use, (2) nature preservation for moral and aesthetic reasons, (3) concern over health and eco- logical consequences of pollution, and (4) global environmental citizenship. These stages are not mutually exclusive. You might em- brace them all simultaneously. As you read this section, consider why you agree with those you find most appealing.
Environmental protection has historic roots
Recognizing human misuse of nature is not unique to modern times. Plato complained in the fourth century b.c. that Greece once was blessed with fertile soil and clothed with abundant forests of fine trees. After the trees were cut to build houses and ships, how- ever, heavy rains washed the soil into the sea, leaving only a rocky
“skeleton of a body wasted by disease.” Springs and rivers dried up, and farming became all but impossible. Despite these early observa- tions, most modern environmental ideas developed in response to resource depletion associated with more recent agricultural and in- dustrial revolutions.
Some of the earliest recorded scientific studies of environmen- tal damage were carried out in the eighteenth century by French or British colonial administrators, many of whom were trained scien- tists and who observed rapid soil loss and drying wells that resulted from intensive colonial production of sugar and other commodities.
Some of these colonial administrators considered responsible envi- ronmental stewardship as an aesthetic and moral priority, as well as an economic necessity. These early conservationists observed and understood the connections among deforestation, soil erosion, and local climate change. The pioneering British plant physiologist Stephen Hales, for instance, suggested that conserving green plants preserves rainfall. His ideas were put into practice in 1764 on the Caribbean island of Tobago, where about 20 percent of the land was marked as “reserved in wood for rains.”
Pierre Poivre, an early French governor of Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, was appalled at the environmental and social devastation caused by the destruction of wildlife (such as the flight- less dodo) and the felling of ebony forests on the island by early European settlers. In 1769 Poivre ordered that one-quarter of the island be preserved in forests, particularly on steep mountain slopes and along waterways. Mauritius remains a model for balancing na- ture and human needs. Its forest reserves shelter more original spe- cies than are found on most other populated islands.
Resource waste triggered pragmatic resource conservation (stage 1)
Many historians consider the publication of Man and Nature in 1864 by geographer George Perkins Marsh as the wellspring of en- vironmental protection in North America. Marsh, who also was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat, traveled widely around the Medi- terranean as part of his diplomatic duties in Turkey and Italy. He read widely in the classics (including Plato) and personally ob- served the damage caused by excessive grazing by goats and sheep and by the deforestation of steep hillsides. Alarmed by the wanton destruction and profligate waste of resources still occurring on the
FIGURE 1.18 Some early pioneers of the American conservation movement. (a) President Teddy Roosevelt and his main adviser, (b) Gifford Pinchot, emphasized pragmatic resource conservation, whereas (c) John Muir and (d) Aldo Leopold focused on ethical and aesthetic relationships.
(a):Source: Underwood & Underwood, Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-4698; (b): ©Grey Towers National Historic Landmark; (c): ©Bettmann/Getty Images; (d): ©AP Images
(d) Aldo Leopold (a) President Teddy Roosevelt (b) Gifford Pinchot
(c) John Muir
Rising pollution levels led to the modern environmental movement (stage 3)
The undesirable effects of pollution probably have been recognized as long as people have been building smoky fires. In 1723 the acrid coal smoke in London was so severe that King Edward I threatened to hang anyone who burned coal in the city. In 1661 the English diarist John Evelyn complained about the noxious air pollution caused by coal fires and factories and suggested that sweet-smelling trees be planted to purify city air. Increasingly dangerous smog at- tacks in Britain led, in 1880, to formation of a national Fog and Smoke Committee to combat this problem. But nearly a century later, London’s air (like that of many cities) was still bad. In 1952 an especially bad episode turned midday skies dark and may have caused 12,000 deaths (see chapter 10). This event was extreme, but noxious air was common in many large cities.
The tremendous expansion of chemical industries during and after World War II added a new set of concerns to the environmen- tal agenda. Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson (fig. 1.20a) and published in 1962, awakened the public to the threats of pollution and toxic chemicals to humans as well as other species. The move- ment she engendered might be called modern environmentalism be- cause its concerns extended to include both natural resources and environmental pollution.
Under the leadership of a number of other brilliant and dedi- cated activists and scientists, the environmental agenda was ex- panded in the 1970s to most of the issues addressed in this textbook, such as human population growth, atomic weapons testing and atomic power, fossil fuel extraction and use, recycling, air and water pollution, and wilderness protection. Environmentalism has be- come well established in the public agenda since the first national Earth Day in 1970.
As environmental concerns have expanded to climate action, one of the new leaders has been Bill McKibben (fig. 1.20b), an au- thor, educator, and environmentalist who has written extensively saved “not because they are beautiful or because they shelter wild
creatures of the wilderness, but only to provide homes and jobs for people.” Resources should be used “for the greatest good, for the greatest number, for the longest time.” “There has been a funda- mental misconception,” Pinchot wrote, “that conservation means nothing but husbanding of resources for future generations. Noth- ing could be further from the truth. The first principle of conserva- tion is development and use of the natural resources now existing on this continent for the benefit of the people who live here now.
There may be just as much waste in neglecting the development and use of certain natural resources as there is in their destruction.”
This pragmatic approach still can be seen in the multiple-use poli- cies of the U.S. Forest Service.
Ethical and aesthetic concerns inspired the preservation movement (stage 2)
John Muir (fig. 1.18c), amateur geologist, popular author, and first president of the Sierra Club, strenuously opposed Pinchot’s utilitar- ian policies. Muir argued that nature deserves to exist for its own sake, regardless of its usefulness to us. Aesthetic and spiritual val- ues formed the core of his philosophy of nature protection. This outlook prioritizes preservation because it emphasizes the funda- mental right of other organisms—and nature as a whole—to exist and to pursue their own interests (fig. 1.19). Muir wrote, “The world, we are told, was made for man. A presumption that is totally unsupported by the facts. . . . Nature’s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them. . . . Why ought man to value himself as more than an infi- nitely small unit of the one great unit of creation?”
Muir, who was an early explorer and interpreter of California’s Sierra Nevada range, fought long and hard for establishment of Yosemite and Kings Canyon national parks. The National Park Service, established in 1916, was first headed by Muir’s disciple, Stephen Mather, and has always been oriented toward preservation of nature rather than consumptive uses. Muir’s preservationist ideas have often been at odds with Pinchot’s utilitarian approach.
One of Muir and Pinchot’s biggest battles was over the damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite. Muir regarded flooding the valley a sacrilege against nature. Pinchot, who championed publicly owned utilities, viewed the dam as a way to free San Francisco resi- dents from the clutches of greedy water and power monopolies.
In 1935, pioneering wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold (fig. 1.18d) bought a small, worn-out farm in central Wisconsin. A dilapidated chicken shack, the only remaining building, was remodeled into a rustic cabin. Working together with his children, Leopold planted thousands of trees in a practical experiment in restoring the health and beauty of the land. “Conservation,” he wrote, “is the positive exercise of skill and insight, not merely a negative exercise of absti- nence or caution.” The shack became a writing refuge and the main focus of A Sand County Almanac, a much beloved collection of es- says about our relation with nature. In it, Leopold wrote, “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” Together with Bob Marshall and two oth- ers, Leopold was a founder of the Wilderness Society.
FIGURE 1.19 A conservationist might say this forest is valuable as a supplier of useful resources, including timber and fresh water. A preserva- tionist might argue that this ecosystem is important for its own sake. Many people are sympathetic with both outlooks. ©Altrendo nature/Getty Images
outdoor recreation. Aldo Leopold, a founder of the Wilderness Society, promoted ideas of land stewardship among farmers, fish- ers, and hunters. Robert Marshall, also a founder of the Wilderness Society, campaigned all his life for social and economic justice for low-income groups.
Increasingly, environmental activists are making explicit the links between environmental quality and social progress on a global scale (fig. 1.21). But issues of sustainable development are also be- ing recognized across economic divides in wealthy countries.
Anthony Kapel “Van” Jones (fig. 1.20c) is one of those who has been a powerful voice for social and environmental progress, and he has helped bring visibility to the role of people of color in environmen- tal action. As both a social justice and environmental activist, Jones has fought poverty and racial injustice by creating hundreds of thou- sands of “green-collar” jobs installing solar systems and upgrading the energy efficiency of millions of American homes. He served as President Barack Obama’s Special Advisor for Green Jobs and has worked to build a “green economy for everyone.” He has also brought artists, athletes, and local leaders into national dialogues and engagement around social and environmental issues.
Some of today’s leading environmental thinkers come from developing nations, where poverty and environmental degradation together plague hundreds of millions of people. Dr. Wangari Maathai of Kenya (1940–2011) was a notable example. In 1977 Dr. Maathai (see fig. 1.20d) founded the Green Belt Movement in her native Kenya as a way to both organize poor rural women and restore their environment. Beginning at a small, local scale, this or- ganization has grown to more than 600 grassroots networks across Kenya. They have planted more than 30 million trees while mobiliz- ing communities for self-determination, justice, equity, poverty re- duction, and environmental conservation. Dr. Maathai was elected to the Kenyan Parliament and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources. Her leadership helped bring about climate change and has led campaigns to demand political
action on this existential threat. As scholar in residence at Middlebury College, he worked with a group of undergraduate students to cre- ate 350.org, an organization that has sponsored thousands of dem- onstrations in 181 countries to raise public awareness about climate change and has sparked actions for fossil fuel divestment on many campuses. The group has been widely praised for its creative use of social media and public organization. McKibben and 350.org led the opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline project, which was designed to transport crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to export terminals in Texas.
Environmental quality is tied to social progress (stage 4)
In recent years some people have argued that the roots of the environ- mental movement are elitist—promoting the interests of a wealthy minority who can afford to vacation in wilderness. In fact, most environmental leaders have seen social justice and environmental equity as closely intertwined. Gifford Pinchot, Teddy Roosevelt, and John Muir all strove to keep nature accessible to everyone, at a time when public lands, forests, and waterways were increasingly controlled by a few wealthy individuals and private corporations.
The idea of national parks, one of our principal strategies for nature conservation, is to provide public access to natural beauty and
FIGURE 1.20 Among many distinguished environmental leaders in modern times, (a) Rachel Carson, (b) Bill McKibben, (c) Van Jones, and (d) Wangari Maathai stand out for their dedication, innovation, and bravery.
(a): ©RHS/AP Images; (b): ©Cindy Ord/Getty Images; (c): ©Ryan Rodrick Beiler/
Shutterstock; (d): ©s_bukley/Shutterstock
(a) Rachel Carson (b) Bill McKibben
(c) Van Jones (d) Wangari Maathai
FIGURE 1.21 Environmental scientists increasingly try to address both public health and environmental quality. The poorest populations often suffer most from environmental degradation. ©Kaetana/Shutterstock
problems we face, including human population growth, contami- nated water and air, climate change, and biodiversity losses. There are also encouraging examples of progress. Population growth has slowed, the extent of habitat preserves has expanded greatly in re- cent years, we have promising new energy options, and in many re- gions we have made improvements in air and water quality.
The scientific method provides an orderly way to examine these issues. Ideally, scientists are skeptical about evidence and cau- tious about conclusions. These practices are much like critical thinking, which is also emphasized in environmental science.
Environmental science also is concerned with sustainable de- velopment because both poverty and affluence contribute to envi- ronmental degradation. Impoverished populations often overexploit land and water supplies, while wealthy populations consume or de- grade extraordinary amounts of energy, water, forest products, food, and other resources. Differences in wealth lead to contrasts in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other measures of well-being.
Resolving these multiple problems together is the challenge for sus- tainability.
Our ideas about conservation and environment have evolved in response to environmental conditions, from a focus on conservation of usable resources to preservation of nature for its own sake. Through- out these ideas has been a concern for social equity, for the rights of low-income people to have access to resources and to a healthy envi- ronment. In recent years these twin concerns have expanded to recog- nize the possibilities of change in developing countries and the global interconnections of environmental and social concerns.
democracy and good government to her country. In 2004 she re- ceived the Nobel Peace Prize for her work, the first time a Nobel has been awarded for environmental action. In her acceptance speech she said, “Working together, we have proven that sustainable development is possible; that reforestation of degraded land is pos- sible; and that exemplary governance is possible when ordinary citizens are informed, sensitized, mobilized and involved in direct action for their environment.”
Photographs of the earth from space (see fig. 1.3) provide pow- erful icons for the fourth wave of ecological concern, which might be called global environmentalism. Such photos remind us how small, fragile, beautiful, and rare our home planet is. We all share an environment at this global scale. As Ambassador Adlai Stevenson noted in his 1965 farewell address to the United Nations, we now need to worry about the life-support systems of the planet as a whole: “We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave to the ancient enemies of man- kind and half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew, can travel with such vast contradictions.
On their resolution depends the security of us all.”